Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim has announced that federally-appointed state secretary Khusrin Munawi will be allowed to take the oath of secrecy before him next week.

azlanHowever he refused to say exactly when.

"It will be next week. We will inform you when. We have a timetable," said Khalid (right in photo).

The menteri besar said that, once Khusrin (left in photo) takes the oath, he will be allowed to attend state exco meetings.

However, certain changes will first be made to structure the way the meeting is held.

"We will restructure the mode into two parts - one part which he can attend and another that he cannot," said Khalid.

He claimed this is normal practice, as sometimes the excos - all elected representatives - need to discuss matters without ex-officio members being present.

"This is normal as even civil servants have meetings which the excos do not attend, for example, heads of department meetings," he argued.

‘Practice not unusual’

A member of the state administration explained that it is not unusual for ex-officio members to be excluded from certain exco discussions on ‘sensitive matters’. This is already in practice, if not in common practice up to now.

"Usually it is on a per issue basis, and the MB will decide. It is only that we are now making it part of every exco meeting," explained the source, denying that this is specifically to exclude Khusrin’s participation.

The conflict created between the federal and state governments over Khusrin’s appointment has left the state secretary in limbo - he was not able to fully discharge his duties without taking the oath of secrecy.

However, Khalid moved to defuse the situation, meeting Khusrin earlier this week and giving him his first assignment.